Nys Wins GVA Trophy #4 in Essen

The Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee (GVA Trophy Series) continued in Essen (December 13) with the fourth race of this prestigious series. In the cold but dry weather conditions it was Belgian Sven Nys who was once again the best. Czech Zdenek Stybar, who stayed with Nys until the final lap, finished second. Dutch Thijs Al rounded off the podium. With the win Nys increased his lead in the Gazet van Antwerpen trofee on his competitors.
The Dutch riders Thijs Al and World Champion Lars Boom, who returned in competition after illness and a training camp on Lanzarote, had the best start. At the end of the first lap twelve riders were up front.

As the group was too big Nys attacked and on one of the small hills in the woods, many of the other riders made a mistake and had to dismount. Quickly Nys was a few seconds ahead on the first chasers Bart Wellens, Lars Boom, Sven Vanthourenhout, Zdenek Stybar and DieterVanthourenhout. At the end of the second lap Bart Wellens, second in the GVA trofee, crashed and lost some places in the battle for the GVA sprint.

Sven Nys took the intermediate sprint and the three points for the ranking ahead of Zdenek Stybar and Lars Boom. Stybar attacked with the chasers and over halfway the third lap Stybar bridged across to Nys. At the end of the third lap both Nys and Stybar had a lead of ten seconds on Boom, Simunek and Sven Vanthourenhout followed by Wellens, Dieter Vanthourenhout, Bart Aernouts and Gerben de Knegt at 22 seconds. Kevin Pauwels and Richard Groenendaal were 30 seconds behind.

Lap by lap Nys and Stybar increased their lap on the chasing group and with six of nine laps, were already up to 40 seconds on eight chasers including Wellens, Boom and Vanthourenhout.

In the penultimate lap, Thijs Al and Bart Aernouts attacked out of the chasing group to battle for the third place. But up front the leading two stayed together until halfway through the final lap when Stybar made a little mistake on one of the hills in the woods. Nys immediately accelerated, gaining a few seconds which was all he needed. Stybar, who lives in Essen, finished second on his home soil, and Thijs Al finished as a surprising third. The win by Nys is a historical one as he won for the fifth time in his career in Essen. Wellens missed his chance of making the same record as he also had won the race in Essen four times previously.

The U23 race was won by German Philipp Walsleben. Walsleben attacked in the final to win the race solo. His opponents Jim Aernouts and Kenneth van Compernolle completed the podium. Danny van Poppel won the race in the beginners category and Wietse Bosmans won in the junior category.

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